1 / 23

Understanding America's Westward Expansion

Explore the history of America's westward expansion, including the Northwest Ordinance and the Homestead Act, and discover the challenges and opportunities faced by homesteaders. Consider the changes you would propose to support these settlers.

erikjones
Download Presentation

Understanding America's Westward Expansion

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Observe the map: What is the year? What is still territory? Who are our neighbors? How did we fill it so fast? Were there rules to become a state? (feel free to google)

  2. The Northwest Ordinance, officially known as the Ordinance of 1787, organized its governing structure, and established the procedures by which territories were admitted as states to the Union. When the population of the territory reached 5,000, the inhabitants were authorized to elect a legislature and to be represented in the House of Representatives by a nonvoting member. When a designated area of the territory had 60,000 residents, that area could seek to become a state by complying with the requirements of the ordinance. Congress required that the territory be divided into at least three but not more than five states. Five states were eventually carved out of the territory

  3. What would you be willing to do for $5? Free land?

  4. Chapter 18 : Homestead • Congress passed the Homestead Act in 1862, it promised 160 acres of free land to anyone who paid a small filing fee and farmed it for 5 years. • One problem was that many people couldn’t afford to start their farms once they moved.

  5. Life was difficult on the Plains. The soil was hard and the climate was dry. Harsh winters gave off strong winds and deep snow. Women had to produce most goods for their families since there were no conveniences like stores. Their biggest challenge was inadequate housing. **Tied rope around perimeter of their home so they wouldn’t get lost in blizzards

  6. Google Blizzard Of 1888

  7. As farmers finally began to grow and sell crops, their profits began to decrease. There were so many farmers with the product that values went down. Farmers began to form alliances to try and make their way of life better. A new political party, the Populists, emerged due to their demands: railroad prices, deflation, telegraphs, limit immigration, silver standard. The National Grange – social and educational association for the farmers.

  8. Exodusters, a large group of African Americans who moved to Kansas, were among the settlers. They moved not only because of the land, but felt that the rights’ they were given after the Civil War were slipping away. ***Primary Sources pgs. 601 and 605

  9. Far and Away

  10. You would like to create legislation to help these Homesteaders, what changes might you make?

More Related